1-28-2008 (Mon) Fin. & Econ. Activity

Sales of new single-family homes fell 4.7 percent in December to the lowest rate in nearly 13 years while the median sales price dropped sharply, according to a government report Monday that delivered more grim news for the housing sector – NYT

The U.S. economy may already be in recession; other countries might not be far behind. Japan, Britain, Spain and Singapore, which together represent about 12 percent of the world economy, are vulnerable as fallout from the U.S. worsens their economic weakness. Even emerging markets, including China, are likely to suffer as exports to the U.S. wane – Bloomberg

SocGen ‘alerted in November’ to rogue trades – Times On Line

Scandal stings not just bank, but French pride, too – International Herald Tribune, Nelson D. Schwartz and Jad Mouawad

A bank-sponsored bailout of the troubled bond insurance sector seems more like wishful thinking than market savior – The Street, Mark DeCambre

For expanded coverage visit Comments for the Net

1-27-2008 (Sun) Fin. & Econ. Activity

Headed for your real estate closing? No matter which side of the table you’ll be on, have a Plan B. That’s because a new study of real estate agents found that one-third of home-purchase transactions in September, October and November were postponed or went south. The study said 13 percent failed for mortgage-related reasons, a number described as “hefty” by Inside Mortgage Finance, the trade journal that sponsored the survey. The 2,400 agents surveyed attributed the jump in mortgage-related problems to tighter underwriting standards and the elimination of many once-popular mortgages. The biggest problem, the agents said, was that their clients’ credit scores were too low to qualify for loans – Chicago Tribune, Mary Umberger

Societe Generale detailed Sunday how a young trader evaded all its controls to bet some $73 billion — more than the French bank’s market worth — on European markets, saying he hacked computers and used other “fraudulent methods” to cover his tracks, causing billions in losses. The bank says the trader, Jerome Kerviel, did not appear to have profited personally from the transactions and seemingly worked alone – USA Today (AP)

Another U.S. interest rate cut this week would help worthy borrowers secure cheaper home mortgages or business loans, and perhaps begin to stanch the bleeding at global banks. It won’t avert a slowdown in the United States that threatens to tip its economy into recession, nor will it herald a return to the easy-money heyday that drove the housing market and corporate profits to unsustainable peaks in recent years – International Herald Tribune (Reuters)

For expanded coverage visit Comments for the Net

Drug-resistant staph found to be passed in gay sex

From Reuters:

A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday.

They said methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles.

Sexually active gay men in San Francisco are 13 times more likely to be infected than their heterosexual neighbors, the researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

“Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable,” said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study. “That’s why we’re trying to spread the message of prevention.”

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Hollywood’s End is Near (Thankfully)

I have written in many posts that Hollywood is one of the worst things that could happen to a society.  Here is the view of a Hollywood insider for Variety:

Longtime Hollywood publicist Julian Myers will turn 90 soon. And he worries the end may be near … for Hollywood.

Myers frets that the WGA stalemate — with all of its acrimony, vitriol and job losses — is a harbinger of ill things for the industry.

“The strike impasse is speeding the end of Hollywood filmmaking and television production,” says Myers, who has been working in the biz since 1939 and is still an IATSE member. “There are more union contracts coming up for renewal, and already unionists are crossing union lines. IATSE is urging its members to go right on through. Insults are being exchanged, faces will be bashed and fatalities are a possibility.”

Julian,  please don’t worry about it.  America will survive and become a much better country without it.  Getting rid of Hollywood would truly be a blessing of great magnitude.

A Trip to Wal-Mart

Wednesday is my day to purchase groceries and today the checkout lines were long.  I got in line behind a very nice looking young man about 25 I would guess, who was using his cell phone to text message.  Text messaging always interests me because I have never done it and I have wondered why people did it.  We had a very nice conversation about cell phone providers, text messaging, and related topics.

A very interesting point he made was that he used his text messaging to talk to other Huckabee supporters.  Huck is very popular with young Texas Republicans, I understand, and Huck is getting more popular all the time.  This young man had convinced his father to become a Huck fan also.

He also made the point that he thought the Republican party needed to change and he thought Huck was the person to do it.  He thought that Huck was genuine and honest.  I have to agree with him about the necessity of remolding the Republican party and about the qualities of Huck.  I think the Reagan, Limbaugh days are numbered.  There is a new breed of Republicans coming into power and the party will move more to the center I think.  I know some of you will disagree and hope that I am wrong, but we will just have to wait and see.